Chapter 105 (1/2)

Two of them entered the town. Xiao Chen sold the low-grade Demonic Beast Internal Elixirs and earned several dozens silver ingots. By now, they were extremely tired. The inns that they looked up had no rooms. At long last, they settled in a small inn.

They ordered a few random dishes. Soon, this small inn at the corner of the street filled up. The hall was bustling and people talked loudly.

“Haven’t you heard? A disciple of the Ancient Immortal Clan turned up at the Immortals League Competition!”

“I have! He set up formations, condensed his Qi into blades, conjured up illusionary doubles… he even summoned an archean dragon in the end. Oh ho, the disciples of the Ancient Immortal Clan are all turning up. Looks like our continent will be very lively these days!”

“But I heard that he betrayed the Zhou State yesterday. Seemed to be forcing Princess Xuanye to marry him. He and the Zhou Emperor fell out… ”

Xiao Chen almost spew out the rice in his mouth. Gossip had spread even faster than him running for his life. He raised his head and saw the solemn look on Luo Shangyan’s face. He picked up a piece of fish and put it in her bowl, saying quietly, “It’s alright. Take your meal.”

After the meal, he ordered the inn’s waiter to buy him a large Violet Manor map from an outside store. When they returned to their room, Xiao Chen spread out the map on the table and scrutinized the territories on it. His expression became more and more solemn. Luo Shangyan saw him knit his brows. She asked, “What’s wrong? Will we take long to reach Qing Province?”

Xiao Chen exhaled a deep breath. He rolled up the map and shook his head, smiling, “Not really. We’ll take about half a month on horse carriage.”

He was worried not about this matter. He had discovered that the territories on the map–the East Divine Continent, the West He Continent, the South Zhan Subcontinent, the North Lu Continent, plus the Middle Continent–the geographical locations of all these five continents seemed to him like a massive, Archean Formation.

Luo Shangyan smiled quietly. “Sister Xian’er is very sharp. She will be fine. You don’t need to worry too much.”

Since their encounter at the Teal Jade Sect, Xiao Chen had rarely seen her smile so radiantly. He smiled lightly and nodded. “You’d better go and rest. We need to resume our journey tomorrow.”

There were two beds in the room. He was afraid that Yu Wenmu might come after them and had chosen to stay in the same room. Luo Shangyan went up the bed and placed her head lightly on the embroidered pillow. She watched his back as he faced the night sky at the window, gazing up fixedly. After a long time, she asked softly, “Junior Brother Xiao, shouldn’t you go to bed?”

Xiao Chen turned around and smiled gently. “I’m not tired. You sleep first.”

Moonlight shone on one side of the young man’s face, revealing his faint melancholy. Luo Shangyan acquiesced quietly, then gently shut her eyelids. By now, she had understood that he had intervened requesting a marriage from the Zhou Emperor to stop her from marrying Yu Wenmu. Maybe there was a corner in his heart no one could get in…

She was right. Right now, Xiao Chen had locked up his heart. No one could get in. Ever since he recalled Flower Yet-ending, he had locked up his heart.

He turned around slowly, facing the lone moon in the high sky. He sighed gently in his heart. “It’s been several millennia. Are you still alive, Yet-ending… ?”

Moonlight was all over the place, turning into a melancholy which could not be undone.

The next morning after breakfast, they went to the town to look for a horse carriage. It seemed that lately, many were hiring horse carriages. The merchants took the chance to jack up the price. After all, not everyone could afford a Flying-cloud Stone. There was no way out but to pay.

Xiao Chen had limited silver. They could not hire a horse carriage alone and had to travel in a group. About a dozen people soon squeezed into the carriage. It was no problem for himself, but Luo Shangyan was too beautiful. The eyes of his fellow travelers would rest either intentionally or unintentionally on her. A few even tried to edge closer to her in the swaying carriage.

Xiao Chen felt disgusted but would rather not make any trouble. He let Luo Shangyan sit on the outermost seat and interposed himself in between.

They needed to travel through many towns and a few large cities to reach Qing Province. Their next stop would be a middle-sized city, Lingyun Citadel.

Along the way, although there were green mountains and emerald waters to keep them company, it was still quite boring. Seven or eight of these strangers began to chat.

“I heard that at the Immortals League Competition, a disciple from the Ancient Immortal Clan injured the young master of the Ling Family badly.”

“He’s not just badly injured! Both his arms are maimed. What kind of feud was between them?”

“Tut, tut, tut… he has almost reached the Core Forming Realm. A pity, what a pity!”

The company began to shake their heads and sigh. Xiao Chen pressed Luo Shangyan’s hand and did not say a word.

“The Ling Family will not let him off, I’m sure!”

“But what can they do? He’s a disciple of the Ancient Immortal Clan. No matter how powerful the Lings are, they can only create a din in the Qing State. Can they get their man from the Ancient Immortal Clan?”